Sep 28, 2020
“Shahid” Bhagat Singh
By Srishti Kumar
Today, the 28th of September marks the 112th birth anniversary of one of the youngest martyrs in the history of the Indian revolution — Bhagat Singh. Known as a hero, Bhagat Singh was born on 28th September 1907, in Banga, Punjab (Present day Pakistan), to Kishan Singh, who followed the Arya Samaj, which was a product of a Hindu reformist movement started by Swami Dayanand Saraswati. His grandfather too was a staunch follower, and educated Bhagat in an educational institution run by the Arya Samaj, instead of the conventional Khalsa college, where most of the Sikhs were educated because it was British-run institution. All of this had a very strong influence on the young boy.
The year 1919, marked a very dark period in the history of the British-Indian Raj. On the 13th of April 1919, around 1600 people were massacred mercilessly in Jallianwala Bagh, Amritsar. Bhagat Singh, who was only 12 at that time, visited the site hours after the massacre took place. He took a handful of sand from the Bagh and pledged to take revenge for those of his brothers and sisters who had been mercilessly murdered by the British. This was the first trigger for the young martyr, to act against the British. Throughout his life as a revolutionary, Bhagat Singh opposed Gandhi’s idea of a non-violent approach to achieve freedom. He believed that non-violence and fasting could only get you so far. If the British use physical methods to ‘control’ the crowd, then we shouldn’t hold back either. Bhagat Singh had, towards his later years, a fixed group of revolutionaries whom he would plan attacks with. These included — Shivaram Rajguru, Sukhdev, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqulla Khan. The last three were involved in the Kakori Train Robbery and Bismil and Ashfaq, were hung, while Azad, ran away.
November 1928 was the year the ‘Simon Commission’ had come to India. To protest, people would walk around in the streets of the country, with black slogans, yelling “Simon go back!”. The government would counter these protests by lathi charging (beating them up with sticks), on them. In one such incident, Lala Rajpat Rai, one of the most respected freedom fighters was killed, aged 63. Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Azad, conspired together to kill the man responsible for starting the lathi charge, but in a case of mistaken identity, killed another officer, J.P Saunders. Following this incident, in 1929, Singh bombed the Central Legislative Assembly. Even though this bomb was nothing more than just a smoke bomb, detonated only to warn the British, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for both the killing of a police officer and the bombing. Singh was only 21 years old when he was arrested. Whilst imprisoned in Lahore jail, he started a hunger strike because he saw a bias in the way European prisoners and Indian prisoners were treated. They were given horrible food and were provided with no basic amenities such as newspapers, clean drinking water and decent food, which was what they were supposed to be given because they were Political Prisoners.
On 7th October 1930, the tribunal passed a 300-page long judgement which found Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev, guilty of killing J.P Saunders and sentenced them to death. On 24th March 1931, Bhagat Singh and his accomplices were hanged at 7:30 pm in Lahore Jail. A hole was made in the jail wall from where their bodies were dragged out, burnt and the ashes were thrown into the Sutlej River. In fact, 24th of March, every year, is celebrated as “Shaheed Diwas” (Martyr Day), in India. Singh in the months October and November of 1930, wrote a 7-page essay entitled ‘Why I am an Atheist’. When I read the essay, I could see such mature personality traits in the young martyr which could otherwise, only be seen in a 60-year old man. He mentions how he has seen villages and along with that, his family and friends getting destroyed because of religion. Although he was brought up in a religious household, he never was atheist. According to him, whenever you place someone on a pedestal, like Gandhi, you forget the purpose of your life. He writes, and I quote, “As Mahatma ji is great, he is above criticism; as he has risen above, all that he says in the field of politics, religion, Ethics is right. You agree or not, it is binding upon you to take it as truth. This is not constructive thinking. We do not take a leap forward; we go many steps back.”
Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev were only 23 years old and Rajguru only 22, when they were hung. At such a tender age, they had the courage to sacrifice their lives for the freedom of their country. In all his writings, he expresses only contempt towards those Indians who served the British and tortured their own willingly. On the 112th birthday of this young martyr, let’s not forget what he and his accomplices did for this country. Let’s remember them and respect them because their bold actions only brought us closer to independence and freedom.
23rd of March is celebrated as ‘Shaheed Diwas’ in India, every year
